This is the Finding Mental Stability meditation.
So now just getting comfortable,
Preferably in a seated position,
And just taking some time here to stretch or move the body however it would feel good.
Maybe rolling the shoulders or the neck,
Extending the legs out in front of you or reaching the arms up overhead.
Just spending some time here,
Simply attending to the needs of the body before we find our posture.
The best way to understand mental stability is to imagine yourself standing on a boat.
If you stand too rigid,
The first big wave will make you fall.
We need to learn how to sway with the boat,
Sway with the waves in order to keep our balance.
Mental stability is like that.
It's like finding balance amidst the sway of the waves of life.
So we're gonna practice cultivating that now.
So now just settling into your seated position,
Sitting with some degree of poise or focus in the body,
Whatever that means to you,
Whatever that feels like to you.
And just settling in.
One or two deeper breaths can really be nice to just let it sink in that all you're going to be doing right now is practicing being with the sway,
With a dance of your mind between thought and awareness and practicing being with the sway.
And practicing just finding your balance.
And you can totally do this.
So now just finding your breath,
The feeling of it,
Moving in and out the body,
Wherever you can feel this most easily and vividly,
Maybe at the nose or the throat,
The chest or the belly,
It really doesn't matter where,
Just feeling your breath,
Noticing how there's actually a constant movement in the body,
Even though we're sitting relatively still.
This constant movement of the breath.
This is what we're interested in noticing,
This movement,
Feeling this movement and just kind of moving with it in the mind,
Riding the waves of sensation of the breath,
Finding your mental balance within the sway of the breath,
A mental poise that stays focused within the sensations of the moving body,
Just as we sit here and breathe.
Seeing if you can find this mental poise now as we just sit here and feel the breath,
Perhaps noticing how the mind is moving as well,
Moving on its own away from the breath and into thought,
Suddenly and without choice,
Your thinking,
Seeing if you can notice that,
Thinking just happening,
Thoughts rise in the mind like waves in the ocean.
So when you notice waves of thoughts rising in the mind,
Seeing if you can just catch a wave back again to the breath,
It's your mind that's taking you away from the breath,
So let's use the mind to bring us back again,
Coming back to the waves of sensation of the breath and then more waves of thoughts come and we can just ride them out and practice catching a wave back again to the breath,
Now again just back with the breath,
Riding the waves of breath again,
Really feeling into the movement of the breath,
The lifting and the lowering,
The rising and the falling of the body as we breathe,
Finding your mental stability,
Your poise,
Your balance within this movement of the breath and just as the waves in the ocean never stop,
Same with the waves of your breath,
Same with the waves of your thoughts,
Just coming and going,
So again just seeing if you can notice when you're in a wave of thought,
Maybe noticing as it first rises or maybe as it's cresting,
Doesn't matter,
Just noticing that movement of mind off into thought as just a part of things,
Just a part of this moving ocean of thought and awareness,
This moving ocean of life and just practicing finding our mental stability,
Our poise amidst the movement,
Whatever that feels like to you,
Whatever that means to you,
Just finding our balance amidst the movement of the breath,
The movements of the mind.
Sometimes the waves of thought bringing turbulence,
Rocking our boat,
Takes a little more effort then to find our balance.
No one said this was easy,
But the heroes of all time have gone before us and they discovered this path and they shared it with us so that we can too,
Finding our balance amidst the turbulence of the mind and sailing home to the breath.
Each new wave of breath,
Of thought,
An opportunity to discover balance.
This is the hero's journey,
Discovering balance amidst the chaos and finding our way back home,
Home to the breath,
Home to the body as we just sit here and breathe.
Truly the practice of mental stability.
And now for these last few moments of the meditation,
Just opening your eyes,
Now feeling your breath just now with your eyes open.
And then again beginning to stretch and move your body however it would feel good as the meditation ends.
Meditation.
